Apparently that is how to pronounce Eyjafjallajökull, the volcano in Iceland that erupted in the spring of 2010 saturating the skies with ash and closing down Europe's major airports for a week. Or at least that's what the T-shirts told us!
Mike and I just came back from 12 days in Iceland and it was an incredible adventure. The landscape and scenery was unbelievable! The weather was a very pleasant 12-15 degC, perfect for hiking around outdoors. I would normally find that temperature too cool for a vacation but becoming pregnant seems to have completely changed my mind - I can't seem to tolerate the heat we've been having this summer.
 |
| Black Sand Beach - Snaefellsnes Peninsula |
Iceland had never been a place to visit on either of our lists until earlier this year when we heard about it from various friends and co-workers. We were both intrigued by the things we learned about the country and thought, heck, why not? We knew we wanted one more big trip before the baby's arrival and Iceland seemed as good a place for an adventure as any; Waterfalls, volcanoes, geysers, glaciers, mud pots, hot springs, horses, sheepies, and moooore sheepies - sign us up!
 |
| Vatnajökull Glacier |
The population in Iceland is roughly 320,000 with 2/3 of the people concentrated in the greater Reykjavik area on the west coast. We spent the first several days around Reykjavik and taking some day tours to visit the highlands (normally requires renting a Super Jeep), exploring a cave, and checking out Snaefellsnes Peninsula. Then we rented a Yaris for the second half of the trip and drove on the "Ring Road" that wraps around the perimeter of the country. Seeing the countryside was breathtaking, and the fact that we encountered so few people on the roads or in the small towns scattered along the way made the journey even more mysterious and magical. There was one stretch of road where we must have driven for almost 2 hours before we saw a single farm! That's not to say there wasn't always plenty to see - sometimes when we walked around the lava rock formations it felt like we had landed on another planet. Then we saw the familiar horses and sheep and everything was back to normal :)
I can't possibly recount in this blog all of the wonderful things we saw and did in Iceland but I will share a few photos here. We took an absurd number of photos and videos by the way, some of which I just finished uploading to my Picasa web album. Below is just the teensiest, tiniest glimpse into Iceland. I would definitely recommend paying a visit there for anyone who enjoys being outdoors - it's an expensive country to travel to (now that the economy is recovering) but definitely worth it.
Interesting Facts!
- ratio of people to horses is roughly 3:1
- average temperature in January is only down to -2 degC
- Reykjavik sees more sunlight hours over the course of a year than Miami does (despite the endless darkness of winters)
- Iceland is about twice the size of Nova Scotia (103 square kilometers)
- beer was banned in Iceland until 1989
- the majority of the population believes in elves (no joke)
 |
| Snaefellsnes Peninsula |
 |
| Arch at Dyrhólaey |
 |
| Sulfur springs in Lauger |
 |
| Behind Seljalandsfoss Waterfall - can you find Mike in the photo?? |
 |
| Thingvellir National Park |
 |
| Vatnajökull Glacier |
 |
| Skogafoss Waterfall |
Amazing!!! What a great trip! And you look so good!!!! (oh, so does mike. but he's not growing a baby!) Pics look amazing. would love to hang out and hear more stories!
ReplyDelete